


Same old mistakes

by illbeyourbestkeptsecret



Category: Pentatonix, Superfruit
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, also genderfluid! mitch probably, and genderfluid! angel, im trash and included all of my faves im sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-05
Updated: 2016-07-23
Packaged: 2018-06-06 15:02:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6758848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/illbeyourbestkeptsecret/pseuds/illbeyourbestkeptsecret
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Scott Hoying and Mitch Grassi meet each other for the first time in college and both develop an instant attraction. However, things continuously get in the way of them being together and they end up experiencing mixed emotions for each other. Basically, it's just a really trashy fic where I can explore how I think Scott and Mitch would be in college and write them getting drunk a lot. Also features Mitch exploring his gender and stuff as genderfluid</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I haven't been to college. I'm not even American. So all of this is basically a guess as to what college life is like and I'll probably portray it similar to a university experience (even though I'm not actually there yet, either). Also, Angel is a character from Rent who I completely adore so yes I'm trash and included her as a character but yEa enjoy. I'm unsure of how long this will be and how regular updates will be, but the second chapter will be posted soon as I've already written it!

Mitch Grassi wasn’t exactly the hugest fan of meeting new people. Especially when he was fully aware that he would have to share a room with this person for the next year and, that meant if they didn’t get along- well, he’d figure that out when they got to it. It just seemed like such an odd concept to him; what did happen if they didn’t like each other? Would they just try and avoid one another, even if they did live in the same, fairly small, room?

No; he was being paranoid. It’d be fine. He’d be fine. Totally fine. He attempted to tell himself this a few times before opening the door, but he still didn’t fully convince himself. The idea of starting college had seemed fun and exciting at first but when he thought about it there were so many things to worry about- sharing bathrooms, avoiding all of the judgemental people, those kinds of things. These things kind of terrified him a little bit.

So, when Mitch did finally open the door, he was fairly relieved.

“Hey.” Their voice was rather high and quiet, but they seemed fairly confident. They bounced over to Mitch and, to his surprise, grabbed him and hugged him. “I’m Angel. It’s great to meet you.” They smiled as they let go and Mitch simply stared for a moment. He had a feeling he wouldn’t have to worry too much about whether or not this person would accept him, considering the fact they were wearing knee-highs and a short black wig. They did most definitely look good, though.

“Uh, hey. I’m Mitch.” Mitch looked around for a moment, awkwardly. Both of them went quiet as they avoided each other’s gaze. The question that Mitch wanted to ask was something that he wasn’t sure if was appropriate on first meeting someone and he didn’t want to run the risk of offending anyone, so he stayed quiet instead. The room was silent for a few moments until Angel spoke up.

“In case you were wondering, which you probably were…” Angel looked at Mitch for a moment before continuing. “I don’t look this usually. I’m a boy under here. Sort of…” She laughed slightly, shrugging. “But this is how I feel most comfortable.”

“I totally get that.” Mitch paused, reflecting for a moment. “So… do I still call you he?” He asked. He hoped this wasn’t an insensitive question- if that was how Angel felt most comfortable; he wanted to make sure that he gendered them correctly, right? He couldn’t help but admire Angel, though. It was the first day of college and she’d decided to come in with bright red lipstick, knee-highs and a wig. That took courage. Which was something Mitch wished that he could have, but he was too insecure in himself to even try and pretend to be confident on the outside. Maybe in the future, though. He hoped so.

“I mean, you can if you want to.” Angel sat down on the bed, now looking up at Mitch. “But I much prefer she and they.”

Mitch nodded. “Okay, then I shall use those.” Angel smiled, lying back down on her bed. Mitch took this as a cue that the conversation was, pretty much, over, so he grabbed his suitcase and began to unpack.

“That’s cute.” Angel said, now facing him. He had pulled out a long, black dress- he wasn’t even really sure why he brought in the first place. He’d probably never get around to wearing it.

“Uh, thanks.” Mitch said, shoving it back in the suitcase and underneath the rest of his clothes. This wasn’t, really, a conversation he wanted to have with someone he’d just met. Especially someone who was so open with themselves; it kind of intimidated him, okay? He’d probably never reach that level of confidence any time soon, which caused him to feel envious.

Angel laughed. “You don’t need to hide anything from me. I mean, look at me.” She gestured towards herself, continuing to giggle slightly.

“Thanks.” Mitch replied, dryly, hoping to end the conversation. He succeeded, but began to miss the conversation- there’s nothing worse than awkward silence. This is why he is so thankful when he hears a knock at the door and, without waiting to be invited in, Kirstie opens the door.

“Hey! Thank god I got the right room. I was scared I wouldn’t be able to find you.” Her speech was rushed, which suggested to Mitch that she’d been looking for him for a while. He’d told her he would meet her downstairs, but he assumed she’d forgotten this. It didn’t bother him too much, though. He’d wanted to look around the campus and, mostly, leave the room and Kirstie was the best person to do it with as she was a fairly positive influence on him.

“Hi! I’m Kirstie. Mitch’s friend.” She said to Angel, waving in their general direction.

“Hey girl!” Angel got up, grabbing Kirstie and hugging her as she had done with Mitch. Clearly, Angel was a hugger- and didn’t much care whether or not she had only just met the person. Kirstie wasn’t too bothered, though. She may have been caught off guard but Kirstie was quite the hugger, so she let it pass. “You look great, by the way.” Angel said as they let go, touching Kirstie’s jacket. “Is this Saint Laurent?”

“God, I wish.” Kirstie laughed. “No, it’s a cheap knockoff that I got at some market. It’s cute though, right?” She said, with Angel continuing to inspect the jacket. “Yeah. Definitely.” She gave a soft smile to Kirstie and, although Mitch may have only been imagining it, or the fact that she was standing under a light, but he could swear he saw his friend blush slightly. He smiled. Maybe she should’ve been her roommate instead.

“If you guys have finished discussing clothes, I was going to take a walk around campus?” He glanced at Kirstie, raising his voice to phrase his statement into a question.

“Gotcha.” Kirstie nodded, glancing back at Angel. “It was nice meeting you.” She smiled at Angel, who gave a slight smile in response before lying back down on her bed. Mitch had already left the room by this point, waiting for his friend outside the door.

“What was that?” He asked, smirking at his friend.

“What was what?”

“I saw you blush.” Mitch shrugged. “I just…wondered if it meant anything.”

Kirstie looked away from her friend, walking ahead of him in order to avoid his gaze. “Nooooo.” She stopped for a moment, turning around to face Mitch. “I mean, why would it?”

“Well, blushing usually means something…” He glanced at Kirstie, but her eyes reverted back to the floor. “I don’t know, you just seemed… different.”

“Different?” she turned around to face Mitch, causing him to come to a halt fairly quickly. “I was just introducing myself to a new person. Nothing more, nothing less.” She shrugged. “Do you guys get along though?” she asked, changing the conversation; which was something that didn’t go unnoticed by Mitch.

“I mean, I think so.” He started walking again. “She’s not like anyone I’ve met before. I kind of like it, though.” He laughed awkwardly as Kirstie nudged him. “I just mean… she seems nice, okay?”

Kirstie chuckled. “Yeah, she does.” They both went silent for a few seconds as they continued to walk. Mitch wanted to bring up the conversation again but knew it would be pointless- plus he didn’t want to cause any unnecessary tension. Maybe Kirstie should’ve been Angel’s roommate instead of him.

“So, are you excited to start the year?” Kirstie asked, breaking the silence.

“Yeah, I mean-“ his voice was fairly monotone, which caused Kirstie to giggle. “No! I genuinely am. I think it’s gonna be great.”

“You don’t seem too convinced.” She laughed, nudging her friend. “Are you totally sure?”

“I’m sure.” Kirstie tilted her head, glaring at him. “I’m serious!” Kirstie continued to glare at him. “Seriously. It’s going to be a great year; I’m sure of it.”

“Okay. If you’re sure.” She wrapped an arm around his stomach, fairly tightly. “But if anyone causes you any trouble, tell me, okay?” Her tone was mocking, but she was genuine in what she was saying. She had grown to have a form of protectiveness over Mitch and she knew he’d had some anxieties about coming here so she wanted to help him to the best of her abilities.

“Oh fuck off.” Mitch laughed, pulling himself out of her grip. “I am not a teenager anymore and I’m pretty certain I can deal with myself, okay?” Kirstie pouted, attempting to grab hold of Mitch once more. “Stooop!” He tried to be angry, but he found himself laughing instead. Kirstie was just one of those people he couldn’t be mad at; even if he was only pretending. “Ugh, I hate you.”

“No you don’t, you love me.” Kirstie grinned, grabbing her closest friend’s hand.

“Okay, true.” Mitch chuckled. Kirstie was someone he felt he could be himself around and he adored her for that; she’d never judged him. Not even when he had stolen her shoes and broken the heel- she’d just told him she’d buy some more and it wasn’t a big deal. Anyone else would have probably freaked out and, even though it was a small thing, Mitch still thought about it. She was caring and understanding and, with Mitch, that was often something you often needed to be. Mitch was fairly lost in his thoughts until a random blonde guy came up to them.

“Hey.” He smiled, holding out his hand for the two to shake. “I’m Scott.”

“Kirstie.” Kirstie said, taking his hand and shaking it. She wasn’t exactly sure who he was and why he’d come up to them, but maybe this was just a regular thing here.

“Mitch.” Mitch smiled, shaking Scott’s hand. He tilted his head slightly and, even though he was attempting to not look like he was checking the blonde out, he totally was.

“There’s going to be a party kind of thing later tonight.” He looked at the two of them, probably trying to see if this received a negative or positive reaction. He couldn’t tell either way, so just simply continued. “It’s just basically a way to meet new people and introduce yourselves. And get drunk, if you’re into that.” He chuckled at the last part but, when this received no reaction from the two friends, decided to just continue. “It’ll be in the building to the left as you walk out of here. I’ll be there, sooo…”

“I’ll think about it.” Mitch said, his eyes studying the blonde who nodded as a response.

“Okay. Well, hope to see you there!” With that, the blonde was off down the hall. The two friends glanced at each other, then let out a giggle between the two of them.

“Isn’t it kind of early for a party?” Kirstie asked, confused. “I mean, I would’ve thought they’d let us chill for a day before we all get drunk together and end up saying things we don’t mean.” She laughed, but this had happened to the two of them before- they’d dated a few years back and Kirstie had drunkenly told Mitch she loved him to which, much to her disappointment, he had responded to with an ‘I’m gay’. Safe to say, things were slightly awkward between the two friends after that; Mitch felt awful for breaking his closest friend’s heart, but he was also slightly happy he’d told her the truth. She still never got mad at him, though. She just avoided his glances for a few days, which Mitch quickly found was even worse. Within a week, though, they were better friends than ever and hadn’t really spoken about it since. Mitch was glad about that.

“Well, maybe we should go.” Mitch shrugged. “I think it’d be nice to meet people, and-“

“You think he’s cute, don’t you?” Kirstie smirked, interrupting him.

“No! I’m just… really into meeting new people.” He started to nod awkwardly, trying to remain serious but faltered as soon as he looked at Kirstie and they both burst out laughing. Being serious had never been one of Mitch’s fortes.

“Okay, maybe a little.” Kirstie smirked. “He has a kind of cute dorky vibe, okay? I’m into that.”

“Of course you are.” Kirstie laughed, pulling her friend close. “Come on, let’s go look around the campus.”

“Okay.” Mitch said, giving a slight smile to his closest friend. He was going to make this year amazing if it killed him and he would start with the cute, tall blonde he had just met. Just you wait.


	2. Fucked up

That night, Mitch sat on his bed with his clothes sprawled out on the bed next to him. He had been trying to pick an outfit for the past twenty minutes and was, honestly, having very little luck.

“Nope… No… Most definitely not…” He said, picking up clothing items and then putting them on the ‘rejected’ pile. None of them seemed good enough. He wanted to look cute, but not like he was trying too hard or like he was attention-seeking, and that was a difficult balance to find, okay? He sighed, holding his head in the palm of his hands. At this rate he probably wasn’t going to even get to the party in the first place.

“You okay, honey?” Angel asked, walking over to Mitch’s bed and sitting on the floor next to it. Mitch didn’t respond, so Angel begun to grab his suitcase and look through the clothes that were left in it. She grabbed a couple of things, and then sighed to herself, glancing at Mitch. “You sure got a lot of shit in here, huh?” She laughed, but the groan that this received in response from Mitch indicated to her that this probably wasn’t a great thing to say. Maybe she should try being somewhat helpful instead.

“How about I pick an outfit out for you?” She offered, glancing back up at Mitch. They wanted to help and, honestly, the constant sighing had begun to get fairly irritating and she had found it difficult to deal with by the fourth or fifth time. “And you aren’t allowed to question my choices and you have to wear it.”

“That’s a lot of trust to instil in someone I’ve just met.” Mitch looked cautiously at Angel, who shrugged in response. “Or you can just spend the next hour trying to find something to wear. That’s fine too.” She giggled, grabbing Mitch’s hand. “C’mon. Please.”

Mitch paused for a moment, considering the offer. It might make things a lot easier and, well, Angel always looked good, so hopefully so would he. “Okay. Fine.” Angel jumped up excitedly, beaming. “But if I hate it, I’m not wearing it.”

“You won’t hate it.” Angel smiled, already pulling out some of Mitch’s clothes. “I pick well.” This didn’t seem to comfort Mitch, who continued to glare at them. “Seriously. Just trust me.” She winked, going through his clothes and spreading them out in front of her. It did sort of feel like Mitch was glaring at her the entire time, though, so she stopped for a moment and looked back up at him. “How about you leave for a while?”

“Why? Am I bothering you?” Mitch asked, innocently.

“I just think it’d be easier if you weren’t here. It can be a surprise, y’know?” She got up, grabbing Mitch’s hand. “I promise I’ll pick a great outfit.”

“Okay. I trust you.” Mitch nodded, getting up to leave. “But it better be good. I’m counting on you.” He pointed towards Angel as he exited, leaving Angel with his clothes and the job of finding him something to wear. Angel couldn’t help but think he may a little too trustworthy; if the positions had been reversed, she most likely wouldn’t have been okay with it. But she couldn’t stand his constant whining anymore, so this seemed like the better option.

“I really do have a job to do.” Angel said as she looked at the clothes that lay in front of her, frowning. There were definitely a lot of options here, but nothing that really stood out to them. There was nothing that screamed ‘WOW’, y’know? The clothes were cute, but they weren’t anything particularly special. Hmm…

Angel suddenly remembered the dress that Mitch had so hurriedly shoved back in his suitcase on their first meeting. He clearly hadn’t wanted Angel to see it, so it would be incredibly mean of her to suggest that he wore it, but on the other hand…

“It’s really cute.” Angel whined, pulling it out of the suitcase. Really, it could pass for a long shirt- it was cute, simple and, truly, perfect. Mitch would realise that this was a great idea as soon as it he put it on- she was sure of it. But to be on the safe side, she also grabbed a cute, colourful button-up shirt and some jeans. She didn’t want to fuck up the kind-of friendship thing they had going, okay? People tended to find her weird and, honestly, she usually didn’t blame them.

At that moment, Mitch poked his head through the door. “Are you finished?” He asked, glancing at the bed where the clothes lay and stopping once he spotted the dress.

“Seriously?” Mitch said, walking into the room.

“Look, you can say what you want but this would look amazing on you.” Mitch crossed his arms, appearing unamused. “Seriously. Trust me- I know what I’m talking about.”

“This is my first introduction to everyone here. I don’t wanna introduce myself to everyone like… that.” He said, pointing to the dress.

“Like me?” Angel asked, getting up and facing Mitch.

“No! You know I don’t mean it like that.”

“I guess… but it would make me feel a lot better if you wore the dress.” Angel smirked, picking the dress up and waving it in front of Mitch’s face. “Come onnnn. You know you want to.”

“I-“, Mitch grabbed the dress from Angel’s hands, glaring at her, “just don’t think it’ll be a good idea.” He dropped the dress on the floor and picked up the shirt Angel had chosen. “Besides, I prefer this.”

“But do you really? Personally, I think it’s a little dull for you…” Angel said, walking around Mitch and picking up the dress. She was fully aware that this could completely blow up in her face, but she kind of enjoyed teasing Mitch- and besides, they were right. Mitch would look amazing in the dress but, for some reason, he just didn’t see that. So it was her job to… persuade him, y’know?

“You’re just saying that to try and get me to wear the dress.” Angel begun to speak, but Mitch cut her off, shaking his head. “Nope. No. Not gonna work. Sorry.”

“Okay, how about a compromise?” Angel asked as Mitch began to walk away, shirt in hand.

“What kind of compromise?”

“You don’t have to wear it now, but you have to wear it sometime over the next semester.”

Mitch snickered slightly. “I don’t have to do anything.”

“No, but you want to. So you will.” Angel held out her hand for Mitch to shake. “Do we have a deal?”

“Fine.” Mitch said, grabbing Angel’s hand and shaking it. “But not any time over the next few weeks.”

“You say that now…” Angel chuckled, throwing Mitch his jeans. “You go put them on; I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Angel smiled as she left the room, leaving Mitch to contemplate what had just happened. He’d brought the dress to wear it, hadn’t he? Maybe he just brought it because it looked pretty. Maybe it didn’t matter either way; it looked like he was going to have to wear it eventually. It might actually be a blessing in disguise- at least it would tell him the people who he should try to avoid, right?

Yep, just keep telling yourself that Mitch. But at least it has pretty little flowers on it, I mean, that’s enough, right? Enough for what, Mitch wasn’t sure, but he did like expressing some of his feminine side. He just kept a lot of it hidden from public view a lot of the time because, truly, he didn’t have the confidence to express that side of him just yet. That’s why Angel intimidated him.

Mitch got himself dressed, buttoning up his shirt and looking at himself in the mirror. He’d started to wear makeup to cover up some of his spots and blemishes but decided against doing it tonight. There’d be a lot of people (he assumed) so he wanted to make a good impression. Especially when it came to the guy he’d met yesterday; Scott. There was just something about him and, although Mitch was aware that was totally cliché and it may have been more due to the fact that he was intensely attracted to him rather than anything else, it felt true. It felt like something could happen between them and, honestly, that’s enough for Mitch. The idea that something could happen was somewhat pleasing, okay?

“Knock knock.” Angel said, walking in.

“You know saying the word ‘knock’ is pointless if you just walk in anyways.” Mitch laughed, turning around to face Angel.

“Yeah but; I don’t care.” Angel shrugged, looking Mitch up and down. “You look good. Basic, but good.”

“Thanks.” Mitch laughed, sitting down on his bed as Angel stared at him for a while. “What?” He asked, confused. She didn’t talk for a moment, letting the silence between the two of them ride out before sitting next to Mitch and glancing at him. “Any particular reason you care so much?”

“I don’t.” Mitch shrugged, avoiding Angel’s glance. “I just wanna make a good impression, y’know?”

“Yeah. Okay, sure.” Angel laughed, getting up. At that, there was a knock on the door and Mitch got up to go and open it, glancing at Angel with a smirk as he did. “Hey.” Mitch said, greeting a smiling Kirstie who waited at the door. She looked eager- a little too eager for Mitch’s taste. He just wanted to show up, introduce himself, maybe have a few drinks and then leave. That was all. And maybe talk to the cute, tall blonde guy who had invited them. That was all.

 

When they actually arrived at the party, though, Mitch quickly realised there was no way he was leaving this party early. Kirstie acted like his plan was totally ridiculous and refused to leave until they’d stayed for at least an hour, and, as the place was packed, Mitch didn’t like the idea of a) leaving alone and b) leaving Kirstie alone. It’s just not what a good friend does, right? So Mitch ended up downing a couple of drinks whilst Kirstie talked to people and, suddenly, it became midnight and he couldn’t quite remember how he had gotten here.

Sure, he remembered drinking due to absolute boredom and then Kirstie dragging him to people to go and talk to them, and he remembered talking to some cute guys and… shots. Lots of shots. It was something to do with a dare… or something like that. He truly couldn’t remember.

Currently, he was lying face up on a table, staring at the ceiling. Every time he even tried to move, the room felt like it was spinning, so he chose to remain still on the table. He hadn’t even spoken to the blonde, Scott, who had invited them yet. He was the main person he wanted to get to know and it didn’t even appear like he was there. Ugh. Why the fuck had he thought it was a good idea to take shots?

Mitch pulled himself up, head pounding slightly and jumped off the table. He looked around, confused. The room was fairly empty by this point besides a few people scattered around and, besides that, it looked like it was sunrise. Fuck; how long had he been out? It didn’t even feel like that long, not really… and Mitch didn’t pass out on tables. That just didn’t happen.

“Hey cutie.” A voice said, tapping Mitch on the shoulder. Mitch turned around, expecting the voice to belong to someone that he knew, but when he turned around he found he had little recognition of the person. He was cute, though.

“Uh, hey.” Mitch smiled.

“You don’t remember who I am, do you?” He laughed, running a hand through his hair. It was long, brown and, honestly, kind of beautiful. If anything had happened between them, Mitch was kinda disappointed he didn’t remember it. God. How wasted was he?

“I was the one who hoisted you up onto the table when you passed out.” Mitch started to speak, but he interrupted him “don’t worry. You didn’t do anything too embarrassing.”

“I passed out?” Mitch asked, trying to regain his memories of the night before. They were hazy, but they were definitely there and, as the pounding in his head had now stopped, he could actually stop and think for a moment. After the shots, he had faint memories of flirting with a couple of cute guys and- oh. He had spoken to Scott. Not for long, though. But he did remember telling him he looked good; just some subtle flirting, y’know? Nothing else.  Maybe it wasn’t as bad as he had feared… as long as he hadn’t made a total dick of himself, it didn’t really matter.

“You did, however, start shouting about how you were going to be America’s next drag superstar.” He laughed. “But don’t worry- everyone was too wasted by that point to care.”

Mitch chuckled. “Oh god,” he shrugged. “I guess it could’ve of been worse, though.”

“Yeah.” He laughed again, looking around the empty bar. “Oh! The name’s Jason, by the way. Jason Dardo.

“Mitch. Mitch Grassi.” Mitch smiled, looking Jason up and down. He had incredibly beautiful eyes and, mostly, Mitch couldn’t seem to stop staring at his hair. There was just something about it that made him want to run his hands through it, okay? Damn, he was becoming thirsty.

“I should probably go.” Mitch said, pointing to the door and starting to walk towards it. “Maybe I’ll see you later.”

“It was nice meeting you and being drunk with you.” Jason waved as Mitch left and, after a few moments, exited the bar also. Clearly, Mitch didn’t remember them making out and he wasn’t going to be the one to remind him; it was just an uncomfortable conversation to have, okay? But he was still cute. And a good kisser. And, mostly, Jason kinda hoped that wouldn’t be the last time they’d make out.

When Mitch got back, he found both Angel and Kirstie in the room lying down together on the bed. They weren’t cuddling or anything, but it still brought a smile to Mitch’s face for a few moments until they noticed him in the doorway.

“Mitch!” Kirstie said, getting up and wrapping her arms around him. “I missed youuuu!” She giggled excitedly, looking up at Mitch as she had her arms wrapped around his stomach.

“She’s still sort of drunk.” Angel laughed as Kirstie buried her head in Mitch’s stomach. “She’s a clingy drunk, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, she is.” Mitch said, attempting to peel Kirstie off of him. “C’mon, Kirst…” After a few moments, she eventually removed herself from his grip with a pout, but then went immediately back to Angel’s side.

“So did you have fun?” Angel asked as Kirstie held tightly onto her and this time, it seemed, she refused to be moved.

“Yeah, kind of.” He shrugged and then gave a nervous laugh “I can’t really remember a lot of it.”

“Yeah I saw you. I also saw you kissing someone.” At this, Mitch turned out, clearly confused. “I didn’t recognise him- he was cute though.”

“What did he look like?” Mitch asked, once again trying to regain his memories. Come to think of it, he did vaguely remember making out with someone… someone who had long, dark hair… “Jason!” Mitch yelled, cursing himself. God, he must think he was such an ass if he couldn’t even remember their kiss… but then again, Jason hadn’t even bothered to bring it up, so maybe he didn’t care that much.

“I don’t know.” Angel shrugged. “But anyways, I gotta head out…” he looked down at Kirstie, who continued to cling to him like a child “sorry, babe, but you’re going to have to let go.” Kirstie shook her head in response, but Angel pulled herself out of her grip nonetheless and left before she could object any further. Kirstie stomped her feet, pouting and Mitch couldn’t help but laugh at her. She really did look like a child.

“I think you should go to sleep.” Mitch said, pointing Kirstie towards the bed. It only then hit him that he’d slept on a table the entire night and a pain in his neck was beginning to grow, so he decided to lay down himself due to only getting a few hours’ sleep. He expected Kirstie to object, but to his surprise, she quickly flopped herself on the bed without a second thought.

“Did you see Scott?” Kirstie murmured, her back turned against the wall.

“For a moment. Why?”

“He said he thought you were cute.” Kirstie yawned. “Thought you should know.”

Mitch couldn’t help but smile as he started to fall back asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES, I included Jason (AKA America's current drag superstar Violet Chachki) in this because I'm trash, what more can I say? Hope you enjoyed this, in case it wasn't obvious I really love drunk! Mitch and the idea of a very clingy drunk Kristie makes me happy for some reason.


	3. Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mitch attempts to try his luck with Scott but his hope is quickly destroyed within a few single moments and, to his confusion, he quickly discovers that Scott holds some type of grudge towards him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few notes... first of all, the beginning first few paragraphs of this were written when I wasn't completely sober so, basically, I write a lot more dramatically and metaphorically with alcohol in me. And, second, I have a weakness for couples that begin by disliking each other and, even though I can't imagine Scott and Mitch ever disliking it, I decided to explore it as it's really fun to write. Also I'm trying to rely less on speech... I'll let you know how that goes. Enjoy!

The next day, Mitch decided to be slightly bold and seek out Scott himself, hoping to initiate something between the two of them. However, this deemed to be more difficult than he expected and; after searching around the college for about half an hour, he started to give up fairly quickly. He tried to give himself reasons for not trying to find him again with reasons such as ‘maybe fate just doesn’t want you together or’ ‘maybe Kirstie was lying’ but, nonetheless, he still finds himself wanting to be close to the tall, blonde-haired boy for a reason he just can’t figure out.

They had only met for a few moments, so it seemed illogical to Mitch that’d he be this desperate so quickly- but it would be untrue to say he had never felt anything like this before. Although Mitch did not often find himself romantically attracted to someone within the first few moments, there was one boy who changed that and it was simply down to the way that he smiled. A smile that, Mitch felt, held the key to his happiness.

Of course; that was a completely false idea, one that was wholly based on watching too many romance films and basing life as if it were a movie. But for one moment, Mitch truly believed it; believed that this boy could make his heart feel whole again. It was a feeling he had not experienced since they had broken up in a way that had shattered Mitch’s heart into a thousand tiny pieces; a way that even the most emotionless soul on the planet would have trouble in not shedding a tear at.

So, Mitch told himself to play it cool; to be more cautious, even. To avoid his heart being played with again as it if were nothing. But, for some reason, he felt as if this was different- that this boy and he were meant to meet. That, despite what his mind told him, they were meant to find each other somehow, despite how cheesy that sounded and how it made Mitch want to throw up a little when he said it out loud.

Of course, when Mitch finally found Scott, it was nothing like that. Within a few moments the hope that he had built up was destroyed once more as Scott introduced him to his boyfriend, Alex. With a simple ‘oh, hi’, Mitch realised he had built up a fantasy world where this boy- this boy that he had just met- would instantly fall in love with him, despite how foolish that was.

“You can hang out with us, if you want to?” Scott asked, but his hand that was tightly gripped to Alex’s said otherwise.  Mitch knew that he was unwelcome here.

“No. It’s fine.” Mitch smiled. “I’ve got work to do anyways.”

“Okay, cool.” He gripped onto Alex’s hand tighter. “I’ll see you around then.”

“See you.”

With that, Mitch was gone. And Scott was left feeling terribly guilty.

“What was that?” Alex asked, his palms sweaty from how tight Scott’s grip had been.

“Nothing.” He paused. “I’m just not sure if I trust that guy.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.” He turned to Alex. “The way that he was acting last night… it just rubbed me the wrong way, okay?”

Alex laughed. “What did he do? Anything specific?”

“It was just the way he carried himself. Like he thought he was better than everyone.” He stepped closer to Alex, leaning in. “And I swear he felt like he could get me just like that.” He clicked his fingers, signifying this. Alex pondered Scott’s comment for a moment and then answered.

“Maybe you were just reading it wrong.” Scott sighed. “Listen, he was drunk and it was his first time meeting you. Maybe he just thought he’d try his luck with a really hot guy.” He pulled Scott close, wrapping his arm around his stomach. “I can’t blame him.”

Scott chuckled, turning around to face Alex and pressing his lips onto his for a few moments. He would give Mitch another chance and if it didn’t work then, well, it was college. It should be easy to avoid someone, right? All you have to do is smile at them as they walk past and keep it respectable between the two of you. Scott wasn’t really feeling the idea of starting drama with someone within the first week.

“Anyways, the LGBT+ meeting is tonight…” Scott said, earning him a groan from Alex. “What?”

“It’s just…I’m not a huge fan of these group meeting things. You don’t need a group for the gays to meet each other; it just _happens._ ”

Scott laughed. “Whilst you aren’t wrong, I told the guy in charge I’d come. And if I come, you have to also. We can be the cute gay couple.”

“Ugh, again?” Alex said, mocking Scott.

“You know you love it.” Scott said, grabbing Alex around the waist.

“Maybe a little.” Alex laughed, placing a kiss on Scott’s cheek before pulling out of his grip. “But I feel like there may be cuter couples than us here.”

Scott fake gasped, pouting. “No! There can’t be.”

“Afraid so babe.” Alex said. “But we’ll always be the cutest in my heart.”

Scott chuckled.

That night, at the LGBT+ meeting, Scott found himself met with a familiar face.

“Hey.” Mitch smiled, acknowledging both Scott and Alex.

“Hey.” They replied in unison with a dry, uninviting tone, both then walking to the opposite side of the room. Mitch was, mostly, fairly confused. Had he done something to offend them? Did they just not like him?

Why do I care anyway? Mitch asked himself, shrugging. Maybe it was just because he genuinely liked Scott but, it appeared, Scott didn’t like him. But that was okay. Let him not like him; who gives a damn, right?

Mitch. That’s who gave a damn- Mitch. Over the course of the first meeting, he couldn’t stop his eyes from repeatedly gazing over to the opposite side of the room to see what they were doing. On a few occasions, he would catch Scott staring back at him, but then he’d look away as if nothing had happened. On the other occasions, however, he’d catch Alex and Scott holding hands or in a close embrace. It was almost as if they couldn’t be separated from one another.

“Why do you think he keeps staring at us?” Scott asked, taking care in avoiding Mitch’s gaze.

“Maybe because you keep staring at him?” Alex asked.

“I- I do not!” Alex continued to stare at him, unamused. “Listen, I just think he’s being rude.”

“What is with you?” Scott frowned. “You’re never like this. I thought you said you think this guy likes you?”

Scott scoffed. “Yeah, me and anybody else who he finds slightly attractive.” He leaned in closer to Alex. “Listen, I know his type. I just don’t trust it, okay?”

“It seems more than that.” Alex said as Scott continued to stare at the brunette. “You never react this negatively when someone shows interest in you.”

“Because it’s not the same!” Scott yelled, albeit a little too loudly as a few people caught his glance as he leaned in closer to his partner. “Just trust me on this, okay? He’s bad news.”

“You don’t even know the guy.” Alex shrugged. “To me, it seems more like you’re hiding feelings for him from me.”

“What?” Scott fake laughed. “That’s ridiculous. He’s not even- okay. He is kinda cute, but he’s totally not my type.”

“And you’ve got a boyfriend.”

“And I’ve got a boyfriend!” Scott said, facing Alex. “You have nothing to worry about. Trust me.”

“Oh, I know. You’d never cheat on me. I’m too good to lose.” Alex grinned and Scott laughed as he planted a kiss on his cheek. “Exactly.”

Across the room, Mitch continued to stare. He’d stop listening to everyone telling their stories a few moments ago- for some reason, his eyes could only focus on Scott and Alex. The way they acted together was almost nauseating; like they were totally inseparable. Ugh. Mitch had never been a huge fan of PDA.

“So, now you guys talk amongst yourself!” The leader of the group stated as he stood in the middle of the room, smiling. He seemed fairly enthusiastic and hopeful, which Mitch felt like would get tiring after a while. Why was he even here?

To find people like him, he guessed. There’s no better way to make friends than throwing yourself into a group full of queer kids, right? At least he hoped so. The idea of not making friends slightly terrified him, even though he’d never admit it. Throughout the session, a variety of people spoke to him and said hello, but none really stuck with him. Maybe he just wasn’t in the mood for making friends. Or maybe they just weren’t interesting enough. It was probably the latter.

He glanced across the room once more and, despite his insecurities, decided he was going to go and speak to Scott. Even if nothing was going to happen between them, he wanted to be the guys friend at least. When he walked over, however, he noticed a familiar face.

“Hey Mitch! I was just telling Scott here about you.” Kirstie winked, grabbing him and pulling him closer to the two.

“Uh, hey.” Mitch said, looking between the two of them. Neither of them replied. “So what did Kirstie say about me, eh?”

“Just that you’re a really, really good singer.” Kirstie smiled, clearly believing that she was doing the Lord’s work. “Scott sings too!”

“Oh, you do?” Mitch asked, staring at Scott. He still seemed fairly on-edge.

“How about both of you guys sing something?” Kirstie said, looking enthusiastically between the two of them. Both of them shifted slightly, clearly feeling slightly uncomfortable and murmuring a ‘mmm’ and a ‘no’ at the same time.  The conversation went silent for a few moments, but Scott continued to glare at Mitch, who couldn’t help but feel slightly uncomfortable. Clearly this guy had a problem with him for some reason.

“Anyway, we’re gonna go…” Alex said, grabbing his boyfriend by the arm. “Nice meeting you guys!”

“You too!” Kirstie yelled out as they left, then turning around to face Mitch. “What was that?”

“I have no clue.” Mitch said, continuing to look ahead. “He clearly just doesn’t like me.” He shrugged. “Whatever.”

 “Did you do something?”

“No!” Mitch said defensively, although Kirstie still didn’t seem convinced. “Seriously; I swear I didn’t do anything.”

Kirstie continued to stare at Mitch, seeming unconvinced until she finally looked away. “Do you care?”

Mitch shrugged. “It kinda sucks, but whatever. It’s cool. He can hate me.” Kirstie tilted her head, once again staring at Mitch. “Seriously. I don’t care.”

“Whatever you say.” Kirstie said, still unconvinced. “Ohh. Cute guy coming your way.”

Mitch looked up and, sure enough, Jason was heading his way. Kirstie gave a subtle wink and then sauntered away in the opposite direction, leaving Mitch to talk to Jason alone.

“Hey.” He said, fairly quietly due to the anxieties that were building inside of him. He still didn’t know how Jason felt about him completely forgetting that they kissed.

“Hey.” Jason replied, stepping closer to Mitch. “You are aware that we kissed, right?”

“I- yeah.” He sighed. “I’m sorry. I only remembered when Kirstie told me.” He laughed nervously. “You must think I’m a total dick.”

“Actually, I don’t.” Jason said, leading to an incredibly confused Mitch. “Listen. It’s college- it happens.”

“So you don’t care?”

“Not really.” Jason shrugged. “As long as you don’t regret it?”

“No! Definitely not.” Mitch objected, smiling to show this. He wanted Jason to know he was being truthful, but it may have also been due to him wanting anything to happen to get his mind off of Scott. Anything at all.

“Okay; good.” Jason grinned. “Maybe we could do it again.”

“Maybe.” Mitch chuckled. “Hopefully this time I’ll remember it.”

“Hopefully.” Jason said, reaching out and touching Mitch’s hand subtly. “I’ll see you around.”

He left quickly and, as far as Mitch could see, he had left the room as well. He’d been kind of hoping that something would happen between the two of them; maybe it would get his mind off Scott.

Scott. Why did it bother him so much? Fine, he didn’t like him. Whatever. Not a big deal, right?

But Mitch was the type of person that pretty much everyone liked; they found him endearing, a quality he often used to his advantage. But, clearly, that wasn’t the case here. He’d have to deal with people disliking him. Even people as cute as Scott.

Besides that, he has a boyfriend anyways. Things would just get messy. And, clearly, Mitch was far from his type so nothing could ever happen between them. Really. It was absurd to even consider.

“I’m gonna get out of here.” Kirstie said, grabbing her bag. “You coming?”

“Yeah.” Mitch said, but the fact that he was, once again, staring at Scott said otherwise. It was as if he were a million miles away.

“Mitch?” Kirstie asked, confused until she followed Mitch’s eye direction. She sighed. “Stop.”

Mitch blinked, returning to reality once again and staring at Kirstie. “Stop what?”

“Stop,” she grabbed Mitch’s face before he tried to turn around again “obsessing over him!”

“I’m not obsessing.” Mitch said, defensively.

“You are.” Mitch looked away again and Kirstie lowered her voice. “It’s not going to end well, Mitch.”

“I know.” He sighed, facing Kirstie. “I just want to know what his problem with me is. That’s all.”

“Well, for the moment, you’re going to have to deal with not knowing.” Kirstie shrugged. “You’ll find out eventually.”

“I hope so.” Mitch sighed and Kirstie grabbed his hand as they walked out together, making him promise to not stare at Scott or Alex once. He complied, but he still couldn't help but wonder if the blonde happened to be staring at him as he left.


	4. Shameless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'It was slow and romantic, though. And that made Mitch want to hate Scott even more.'

Being a huge theatre nerd and having had a total admiration for the theatre for many years now, it made complete sense to Mitch to take musical theatre at university. There was something about performing that gave him confidence that he didn’t often experience off of the stage and, truly, he enjoyed being the star. Beating everyone else out when it came to lead roles had really become his speciality at school.

However, it quickly became apparent that wouldn’t be the case here. Not that he still wouldn’t try and get the lead roles- it just may be a little bit more difficult here. Everyone seemed so talented and you could tell they all wanted it more than anything else. It intimidated Mitch slightly, because he wasn’t even sure if he cared as much as half of the people here.

After about ten minutes, the door swung open and, lo and behold, in walked Scott. Mitch tried to hide his true feelings, glancing around the room and trying not to meet Scott’s gaze. It should’ve been obvious to him that Scott would take musical theatre, really- he’s not straight and he’s a talented singer. Those two things scream musical theatre. However, Mitch was known to avoid the obvious when the obvious was something he didn’t want to think about.

“Hey, look who it is.” Kirstie said, nudging Mitch.

“Yep. I noticed.” Mitch sighed, staring at him. He hoped this wouldn’t make things difficult here considering Scott didn’t like him. Maybe they could just stay out of each other’s ways. It shouldn’t be _that_ hard.

“Okay, so… for our first task, we are going to get into groups of three.” He looked around the room. “Go!”

Within almost a second, Mitch felt Kirstie grabbing his hand. “We need a third person!” She said, pointing out the obvious as both of them looked around the room for a third partner. And, of course, the one person left in the room without a partner, who was completely trying to avoid both of their gaze’s, was Scott. Fuck. Well, clearly, avoiding him deemed itself impossible- and he wanted to try and be the better person here.

“Scott!” Mitch called out, beckoning him over. At first, Scott pretended to not hear him and, very obviously, looked around the room for another partner. Eventually, though, he realised he had no other option and slowly walked over to Mitch and Kirstie.

“Hi.” He said dryly, clearly attempting to distance himself from the both of them.

“Hey.” They both replied, fairly awkward. The tension in the room rose dramatically and it became obvious to Mitch that his first lesson of musical theatre may not be as entertaining as he had hoped. Oh well. Maybe the tension would add something to the performance.

Over the next hour or so, the tension continued to rise between Scott and Mitch and it became increasingly obvious that the two of them working together was just a train wreck waiting to happen. On many occasions, Kirstie attempted to get the two to see eye-to-eye, but it never worked out and she was left stuck in the middle of it. But, as long as the both of them focused on the planning of a performance they had been set, it would be fine.

However, that wasn’t as simple as it sounded. Scott and Mitch bickered over what song they would choose for a good ten minutes.

“We _have_ to do Seasons of Love.” Mitch demanded, and Kirstie knew that voice all too well. It was Mitch’s ‘I-refuse-to-back-down’ voice.

“Well, _I_ want to do ‘Dancing through Life’.” Scott said, also appearing fairly demanding.

“Wicked is literally the most overdone musical ever.” Mitch whined, rolling his eyes.

“Oh, so Seasons of Love isn’t?”

“No! It’s an iconic song.”

“So is literally every song from Wicked.”

“Well, we’re doing Seasons of Love.”

“No. We’re doing Dancing through Life.”

“No, we’re doing-“

“Might I interrupt for a second?” Kirstie said, standing between the two of them. “I suggest that we do ‘Candy Store’ from Heathers.” They both stared at her. “Because, if not, you’re both going to continue arguing and I can’t deal with that.”

They both groaned but, eventually, agreed to Kirstie’s request and started preparing themselves. But, even though Kirstie had attempted to avoid the arguing, they bickered over who would sing each part for about five minutes. It wasn’t pretty and, by the end of it, Kirstie felt a headache coming on. She’d never seen Mitch like this before; it was like everything Scott did bothered him and, clearly, Scott felt the same. They clearly had so much in common but they couldn’t agree on anything and the worst thing was that they seemed to _enjoy_ bickering with one another.

When that had-finally- been decided, they began to plan their actual performance. Mitch had already decided that he wanted to be the star of the show; he needed the teacher to realise that he was talented, okay? You have to stand out in places like this. And, okay, maybe he wanted to outshine Scott. Just a little bit. He wasn’t driven by jealousy or bitterness at _all_.

“You need to keep on your side.” Scott said, pushing Mitch to the left.

“I am keeping to my side. You’re not keeping to your side.” Mitch said matter-of-factly, trying not to remain hostile. However, it did help that Mitch was playing the role of the bitch Heather C and Scott was playing Veronica. It allowed him to unleash some of his inner feelings and label it purely ‘acting’. God, he truly did love theatre.

“Okay, if you don’t get this step right I’m going to scream.” Mitch said, frustrated. “It’s a step to the right and then two steps to the left and a kick. You got that?” Scott nodded, but when he attempted to do the step again, he failed. Mitch groaned. Being nice to him was going to be a lot harder than it seemed.

“Okay, Mitch, you sit down for a moment. I’m going to talk to Scott.” Kirstie said calmly, glancing over at Mitch. He knew she wasn’t going to give him a choice so he walked to the back of the room and sat down on the floor, reflecting on what was going on. It seemed almost impossible to get him and Scott on the same wavelength and he knew that would fuck up their performance. And what if the teacher saw that they couldn’t work together and scolded him for that? In this industry, you have to be willing to work with everyone; regardless of whether you like them or not.

“Hey.” Kirstie said, walking over and sitting down next to Mitch. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” He sighed. “I just- he’s so difficult to work with, Kirstie.”

“I know. But you’ve got to be a little bit easier on him.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re being too harsh. Just give the guy a break and then, maybe, you’ll actually get along.”

Mitch paused, considering Kirstie’s statement for a moment. Could she be correct? Could he have been being too harsh? He sighed. “Fine. I’ll play nice.”

“Good!” Kirstie smiled. “Because we are going to slay this performance.” She grabbed Mitch by the hand, grinning.

“I hope so.” Mitch said, laughing nervously.

Over the next half an hour, Mitch was sweet as pie. Every time Scott messed up a note or a move he didn’t say a thing besides a sweet ‘just try again’ and Scott, although appearing confused did the same and they exchanged very little words between the two of them. And, by the end of the lesson, they had come pretty far in the development of their performance.

“High-fives!” Kirstie yelled excitedly, high-fiving both Scott and Mitch.

After Kirstie walked off to grab her bag, Mitch turned to Scott. “Why don’t you like me?” He asked, trying to say it in the simplest way possible because, truly, not having an answer to it was driving him insane.

“I just-“Scott stopped as he noticed Kirstie walking back over to the pair of them. “I gotta go.”

“Well, at least you proved the two of you can get along.” Kirstie noted, walking over to Mitch.

“Yeah. He still won’t tell me what his problem is though.”

Kirstie turned around. “You didn’t happen to hit on him, did you?”

“What? No! I mean…” Kirstie crossed her arms, glaring at him. He knew he had no other option but to be truthful with her. “Okay. Maybe…” Kirstie sighed. “But I was drunk! And I didn’t know he had a boyfriend.”

“He probably thinks that you may still like him or something.” She shrugged. “Maybe his boyfriend’s jealous of you.”

“But I gave him no reason to be!” Mitch said, defending himself.

“That doesn’t mean anything. You of all people know how jealous people can get.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing! I just mean…” She sighed. “Okay. You get a little jealous sometimes.” She paused. “Or… really jealous.”

“I do not!” Mitch protested.

“You do!” Mitch pouted, staring at his best friend. “Anyways, all I’m saying is that he might just be trying to save his boyfriend’s feelings. That’s all.”

“Maybe you’re right.” Mitch sighed. “But… how do I prove to his boyfriend I’m not a threat?”

“Keep your distance.” Kirstie said. “That’s all you can really do.”

“Okay. I can do that.” Mitch nodded, attempting to convince himself by praying to himself that he could get Scott out of his head. He’d started to become like an annoying constant irritation within his brain; for some reason he just wouldn’t leave, no matter how hard Mitch tried to shake him. Maybe Alex had a good reason to be wary of him.

So, for the next few days, Mitch kept his distance. He didn’t go to any of the LGBT+ meetings. He walked the other way if he saw Scott in the halls. The only thing that was stopping him from avoiding him altogether was their theatre classes together and he wasn’t about to give those up, so this would have to do. He couldn’t help but take a deep intake of breath whenever he saw him, though.

“It’s like I’m… I don’t know.” Mitch sighed, pausing to take a sip of water. “Like I’m drawn to him, y’know?” He paused again. “I sound really fucking cheesy, don’t I?”

“Yes.” Angel laughed. “But it’s cute! You clearly really like him.”

“I’ve spoken to him like, once or twice. I can’t.” Angel stared at him, grinning. “I can’t!”

“Are you trying to persuade me or yourself?” Angel asked, placing a hand on Mitch’s thigh. “I’m just trying to help you.”

“Well your helps clearly not working.” He sighed, becoming agitated. “Let’s talk about something else.”

“Okay…” Angel paused, looking around the room for a few moments before glancing at Mitch and smiling “are you ever going to wear that dress?”

Mitch laughed nervously. “Probably not. I’m not even sure why I brought it here in the first place.”

“That’s such a lie. You brought it here to wear it, obviously.”

“No, I didn’t.” Mitch objected. “I guess I just…”

“You just what?”

“I wanted to see what it would look like on me.” Mitch shrugged. “That’s… normal, right?”

Angel laughed. “Honey, I’m not really sure what ‘normal’ means anymore.”  She paused. “But… I do know that you should do whatever feels right to you.”

“Okay.” Mitch nodded. “Thank you, Angel.”

“You’re welcome.” She smiled. “I just hope you can feel comfortable with yourself.”

Mitch looked confused. “What does that mean?”

“Whatever you want it to mean.” Angel smiled as Mitch continued to stare at her, confused, then shook his head and decided not to question it further. Angel was often fairly vague and cryptic; he’d learnt questioning it would get him nowhere. He’d just have to figure it out for himself later.

“Anyways, I’m going to go and meet Kirstie for a few hours.” Mitch said, getting up. “See you later.”

“See you.” Angel paused just as Mitch was about to leave. “And tell Kirstie I think she’s cute.”

Mitch laughed. “Will do.”

After a few shots, cocktails and a variety of other drinks, Mitch and Kirstie were sat playing ‘truth or shot’ whilst giggling uncontrollably.

“Okay, okay.” Kirstin laughed, taking another shot. “Truth or shot?”

Mitch thought for a second, looking at the bottle of shots to which his head was begging him not to take another one of. “Truth.”

“Okaaaay…Hmmm… What are your true feelings for Scott?”

Mitch sighed. “Oh my god, you’re so predictable.” He laughed. “The truth is that I don’t get why he doesn’t like me.” He shrugged. “That’s all.”

“That is so not the truth.” Kirstie said, shoving him. “Tell meee!” Kirstie whined, pouting. Mitch groaned, trying to put it off, but, Kirstie continued to pout and it was honestly something he couldn’t resist, so he caved. “Okay. Maybe I like him a little.” He mumbled.

“Hm? I didn’t hear that.”

“I like him, okay?” He sighed, resting his head on Kirstie’s shoulder. “And he hates me.”

“He doesn’t hate you. In fact, I think it may be the opposite.”

Mitch lifted his head off of his friend’s shoulder, frowning. “What do you mean?”

“That’s the reason he’s so distant towards you. Because he’s afraid of the fact that he likes you, too.”

“You really think so?” Mitch asked, the tone of his voice higher than usual.

“Yes, I do. And I don’t know how you hadn’t noticed it.”

“I guess I was just blind to the obvious.” He laughed, taking another sip of his drink. Maybe Kirstie was wrong, but she was usually never wrong about these types of things. She knew when guys liked him weeks before he even realised there was anything between them. So, maybe she was right and Scott didn’t actually hate him; in fact, he actually _liked_ him and was afraid of ruining his relationship. It made perfect sense. Well, it did after Mitch had downed several drinks. He wouldn’t sure if he would think the same when he was sober, but for now, he could believe it.

“Hey.” Mitch said awkwardly to Scott, noticing the tall blonde in the hallways. He couldn’t avoid him forever.

“Hey.” Scott nodded, his hands in his pockets. He was guarded.

“I just wanted to-“

“Can we talk in my room?” Scott asked, opening the door and, Mitch presumed, inviting him in. Mitch gulped. He’d only planned on saying a simple hi; no more, no less, so he had no idea where this would lead him. His anxiety was running wild within a matter of seconds. But he stepped inside nonetheless, taking a deep breath and offered a soft, subtle smile to Scott.

“What did you want to-“

Mitch didn’t get to finish his sentence as, within a few moments, Scott pushed his lips on his in a fairly rough movement. He breathed in deeply, unsure of what to do. _Okay. He’s kissing me. Okay. Don’t freak out Mitch. Maybe he just… maybe this isn’t actually happening._

Scott pulled away, looking relieved. “I’ve wanted to do that since I first saw you.” Mitch couldn’t even respond as, as soon as he attempted to, Scott’s lips were back on his. They felt desperate, passionate and not only was it everything Mitch had hoped for from Scott, but it was everything he was wanted in a kiss. It was soft, but not too soft. It was fast, but not too fast. He almost didn’t want his lips to ever leave his.

 Was this really happening?

Scott continued to kiss him and, despite knowing this was wrong, Mitch couldn’t help but enjoy it. So when Scott dragged him to his bed, Mitch didn’t object. He just wanted to keep kissing him, and kissing him, and…

He woke up as soon as they reached the bed. So it wasn’t real. Of course it wasn’t real. But god, it had felt so, so real when he had kissed him. More real than some of the kisses he’d shared with people in real life. He placed a finger to his lips and he could swear he could still feel Scott’s lips on his, those rough, but still subtle, lips that just begged for…

_Fuck, Mitch, stop,_ he told himself, trying to ignore the hard-on that was quickly developing in his underwear. Ugh. Why do bad things happen to good people?

_You just had a sex dream about a guy in a relationship, I’m not sure you’re a ‘good person’ anymore_ , he thought. He groaned in response to his thoughts as an attempt to shut them up, hoping that maybe he could stop thinking about Scott for one goddamn second. It wasn’t like he had asked for this, y’know? He didn’t want this. It was almost worse than crushing on a straight guy. Almost. Maybe he needed to make out with someone else to get his mind off Scott and remind himself there were plenty of hotter, single guys out there who would love to have him.

Maybe he’d bump into Jason again. He was cute, seemed available and seemed open to making out once so maybe he would be again. Mitch hoped so. If he didn’t get Scott out of his head he wasn’t sure where he was going to end up and, truly, it kind of scared him. He didn’t like confrontation, or arguments and he most certainly didn’t want to come between anyone’s relationship. Fuck. Why was this so difficult?

“Ughhhhhh.” Mitch groaned, pushing his head into a pillow.

“Something wrong, honey?” Angel asked.

“Just the usual.” Mitch sighed, turning around to face Angel. “I had a dream about Scott.”

Angel laughed. “What kind of dream?”

“We were making out, about to have sex. Then I woke up.”

“Ah. Disappointing.” Angel chuckled. “Doesn’t he have a boyfriend?”

“Yes, that’s the problem!” He yelled, then groaning again. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine. You’re just emotional.”

“I am not emotional.” Mitch objected, pulling himself out of the bed and walking to the other side of the room. “I’m just a little… stressed.”

“Does stressed translate to horny?” Angel asked, causing Mitch to turn around and glare at her. “Sorry. But, c’mon.” She paused, getting up to stand beside Mitch to whisper in his ear “I’m correct, aren’t I?”

“No! Yes! Maybe…” Mitch groaned. “I hate how you’re always right.”

“It’s one of my many talents.” Angel grinned, grabbing Mitch by the shoulder and forcing him to turn around. “So go out! Find someone. Get Scott off your mind.” Mitch pulled away, reluctant. He’d considered it, obviously, but it just seemed so desperate. And he hated seeming desperate.

Clocking his reluctance, Angel pouted, grabbing Mitch by the shoulder once more. “It’ll be fun!” No reaction. Angel sighed, uttering a soft “I’ll go with you” in hopes that this would persuade the brunette who clearly needed this.

“Maybe.” Mitch sighed, sitting himself back on his bed and holding his head in his hands. “I hate this.”

Angel sat herself besides Mitch, making him face her. “You’re going to have to get over it, kid. It’s never gonna happen.”

“Wow, you really don’t beat around the bush, do you?” Mitch laughed nervously, refusing to look at Angel. _Never going to happen… never going to happen…_ they were right. Painstakingly right. So Mitch would just have to get over the pathetic little crush he’d developed and just move the fuck on. Well, that was easier said than done. He still hadn’t quite figured out what really drew him to Scott so much. Why, despite his constant pushing away, he still found himself wanting to be near the blonde. How he couldn’t forget how, even though it was only a dream, the idea of his lips pressed against his sent shivers down his spine. Fuck. What was that phrase… you always want what you can’t have? Yeah. He sighed to himself, running a hand through his hair. He most certainly couldn’t have Scott. He could never have Scott.

He was just going to have to deal with that.

That night, Mitch made it his goal to hook up with as many strangers as possible. He didn’t care who they were, if they were good kissers or even if they smelt good; he only cared that he was kissing someone. And he liked kissing people. He was Mitch, after all. Kissing was like second-nature to him by this point.

Halfway through the night, Mitch found himself with his hand down some guy’s pants. He’d probably told him his name at one point, but he couldn’t remember it. That didn’t matter. It wasn’t like it meant anything, anyways.

The only thing that mattered was getting Scott off his mind and, so far, it was working. There were plenty of cute guys here who would probably love to kiss someone as cute as him, so why did he care if there was one guy who didn’t want to? It wasn’t important. Scott wasn’t important. The only thing that mattered was him curing his horniness, using other people in the only way he knew how to.

So he decided to enjoy the night, trying to ignore his inner conscience that was telling him he’d regret this in the morning. He didn’t care. He was young, he was cute and god, he was _in college,_ wasn’t this place made for hooking up?

So he ignored his doubts, his anxieties, and the name ‘Scott’ that kept flashing back and forth in his mind and, instead, decided to focus on something easy; getting the guy that was in front of him off.

It happened within a matter of seconds and Mitch ended up forcing the guy to leave after a few seconds of his puppy dog eyes staring at him, like he wanted something more. Well, unfortunately, Mitch didn’t have much else to offer besides his lips and his talents with his hand. And he couldn’t help but want it to be over quicker than usual.

He walked back into the room where the party was being held, trying to ease the pace that his heartbeat was racing at. Maybe he needed more alcohol. That usually did the trick. It eased his anxiety, allowed him to be more open and was, truly, a god send. He wasn’t really even sure how to _talk_ to people without it. He’d become slightly dependent on the liquid.

He ignored how that made him sound like a slight alcoholic. He wasn’t an alcoholic, of course. And he didn’t _need_ to get drunk to have a good time, he just _preferred_ to. That was all. So he sauntered over to the bar, ordered a couple of shots and decided to play a game with himself to see how quickly he could down them.

“Hey, stranger.” Jason smiled, walking over to Mitch and grabbing one of his shots and downing it for himself. “Hm.” He licked his lips. “Weird flavour.”

“I think you owe me for that.” Mitch laughed, downing another shot.

“Hm, actually, I don’t.” Mitch looked up. “You see, I saved you from drinking _alone_. When you’re drinking with someone else it’s a little less pathetic.” He winked, seating himself besides Mitch and downing the last shot, much to Mitch’s objections.

“Okay, you’re buying the next round.” He said, pretending to sound irritated, but really he was focusing on how fucking _pretty_ Jason looked. He’d never really thought about how attractive long hair looked on guys, but God, was it underrated. It made Jason look like some type of ethereal goddess, honestly. He wondered what it’d be like to grab a fistful of it, and-

_Fuck. Nope. Don’t think about that._

He gulped, trying to bring his thoughts back into the room. He looked at Jason, offering a nervous smile and praying that, even though it was practically impossible, he had no idea what he had just thought about then. Because he didn’t want to fuck this up. He was cute, _so_ fucking cute, and he couldn’t remember their kiss, but he wanted to. 

“Okay, but you owe me.” Jason winked, turning back to the bartender to order more shots, and Mitch almost melted. He was just _so fucking pretty._ And, usually, Mitch didn’t do pretty. He did _hot._ But Jason was both rolled up into one, with his beautiful long hair, his brown eyes and his _smile._ His smile. God; Mitch wanted to kiss him so bad that it was almost painful.

“How about this?” He responded, pulling the brunette close and pressing his lips to his. They were almost like butter against his own; they were softer than the lips he was used to. But it was nice. It was _so fucking nice._ Jason tasted like lip-balm and alcohol and his lips were soft and, for a moment, Mitch wanted to kiss him forever.

Jason, however, parted from the kiss, grinning. “That works.” He smirked, picking up the shots. “How about we take these to my room?”

Mitch’s heart skipped a beat. “That sounds like an amazing idea.”

After only a few minutes of entering the room, they’d finished the shots and found themselves making out on the floor of Jason’s room. Mitch grabbed his hair at every chance he could get; tugging at it; pulling at it, running his hands through it… it was just so pretty.

Jason quickly tugged off Mitch’s shirt, planting kisses all over his body and sending shivers through Mitch’s spine. It felt like so long since he’d done this. And, fuck, was he glad it was happening with Jason. Jason was pretty, beautiful and he had the cutest laugh Mitch had heard in a long time.

Okay; so maybe he only wanted to fuck Jason because he thought he was pretty. But is there anything wrong in that, truly? He _was_ pretty, prettier than most guys, and he just wanted to make him come _so bad._ So, he unzipped Jason’s jeans, and the next few minutes went by in a drunken, sexual haze.

“Well, that was fun.” Jason smiled, lifting up Mitch’s chin and placing another kiss to his lips. This was more gentle; however, and much more subtle. “I’ll see you again later, maybe.” He winked, throwing Mitch’s shirt over his shoulder and returning it back to him.  

“Yeah.” Mitch smirked, walking forward and pressing his lips against Jason’s neck for a few moments before pulling away. “Maybe.”

Mitch picked his shirt up off the floor, pulling it over his head and glancing back to see that Jason was glaring at him as he did. He smirked, winked in Jason’s general direction and then left, leaving Jason in his room alone.

Mitch took careful care to tiptoe slowly and cautiously into the room, opening the door with a slight creak and attempting to be as quiet as possible in case his roommate was asleep. However, as soon as he walked past Angel’s bed, it become evidently obvious to him that he needn’t worry as, on Angel’s bed, Kirstie and Angel were lying down and giggling together.

“Guys?” Mitch said, although as he could barely see, it wasn’t really directed at anyone.

He heard a few quick movements and saw Kirstie rapidly pulling herself up, appearing guilty. “Uh. Hey.”

“Hey.” Mitch said, raising his eyebrow. “What’s going on here?”

“Nothing.” Kirstie replied innocently, grabbing a blanket and snuggling herself against it. Mitch frowned, confused, but decided not to question anything further. He was honestly too tired and drunk to care. “Whatever. I’m going to bed.” He said, walking away from the two and clambering into his own bed and wondering if he’d only imagined what he’d just witnessed.

\--

By the time Mitch woke up, both Angel and Kirstie had left the room so he didn’t have any opportunity to question them about what happened between them last night. Not that it bothered him, really. He’d just assumed that Angel was solely into guys.

It wasn’t like it was any of his business anyways. He grabbed some clothes, throwing them on and walking over to the mirror to stare at his reflection for a moment.

He didn’t like to admit it, but something had always felt a little… off to Mitch about his appearance. Not in the usual way, mind you- it was more to do with how he presented himself to the world. He’d stuck to baggy t-shirts and jeans for so long now he wasn’t even sure if his wardrobe consisted of much else. He’d wanted to try something else, to experiment with his looks but every time he thought about it, the statement was immediately retracted and he went back to his usual clothes. There was something holding him back and, honestly, he wasn’t even sure what it was. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe he should diversify his wardrobe a little more.

He thought of Angel for a moment. A person who, clearly identified more with the female gender, wore dresses and skirts but was still okay to call herself a boy sometimes. He liked that concept. Someone who, despite what everyone else believed, refused to adhere to the boundaries of gender we impose upon ourselves and others. Someone who just does whatever makes them look good and, most importantly, whatever makes them _happy._

So, Mitch grabbed his phone off the side and sent a quick text to Angel.

_Hey, how do u feel abt a shopping trip? Tell Kirstie she can come too xx_

Within a few moments, his phone lit up with a response

_Sounds fun! How do you know I’m with Kirstie tho? Xx_

He chuckled to himself, picking his phone back up to respond

_Just a lucky guess xx_

\--

Over the next few days, Mitch and Scott barely saw one another. In fact, he barely saw anyone. He spent most of the time holed up in his room, reading all the books he’d never got around to reading and listening to all of the new music he still hadn’t checked out. At the moment, as they had only just started the year, there wasn’t really much studying to do besides memorising the audition him, Scott and Kirstie had finished up a few days ago.

So Mitch was left to stare at his phone aimlessly, turning down countless party invitations from Angel as she near enough begged for him to come.

‘Come _on._ There’ll be cute guys there.” Angel said, winking to try and persuade her friend to come with her.

Mitch shook his head. “I’m just not feeling it.”

“You’re literally never feeling it.” Angel sighed, seating herself at the edge of Mitch’s bed. “What is up with you?”

Mitch sat up. “Nothing.” Angel glared at him. “Honestly! I just want some time to myself, that’s all.”

“Hmm…” Angel nodded, pulling herself away even though she wasn’t even slightly convinced. It was like the Mitch that she had met on the first day was back; closed off, stand-offish and, honestly, awkward and slightly boring. It was tiresome for her. “Okay, I believe you. But we’re still on for shopping this weekend, right?”

_Shopping, fuck. He’d completely forgotten._

“Of course.” Mitch smiled, giving Angel the encouragement he knew she desperately needed.

“Okay.” She grinned, ruffling Mitch’s hair and getting up from the bed. “I’ll see you after the party! Whoooo!” She chuckled, grabbing her bag and leaving the room.

It was a few moments before Mitch got up from his bed, spending most of the time staring at the ceiling and considering what to do. It was almost as if everything had stopped and, for some reason, he just couldn’t find energy to do anything anymore.

By the time he’d pulled himself out of bed, he decided it was time to go for a walk around the campus. Maybe it would clear his mind for a few moments and reinstate the energy he had only a few days ago. It was like he had a switch in his head and, for the moment, it was on ‘off’. Off to everything.

So, now was the time to turn it on, clear his head and breathe for a few moments and try to ignore the crippling anxiety that seemed to rise within him every day. He opened the door and, much to his annoyance and shock, found Scott waiting outside of it.

“Um. Hey.” He said, bouncing on the balls of his feet and rubbing his hands together awkwardly.

“Hi.” Mitch said, staring at him. “Did you want something?”

“No. I mean, yes.” He sighed. You’d almost think it was painful for him to talk to Mitch, with the way he fidgeted and refused to look at him. “I’m not gonna be able to take part in the audition thing on Monday.”

Mitch looked up. “You’re kidding, right?”

“No.” He paused. “Look, I’m sorry, it’s just something came up and I-‘

“No.” Mitch shook his head, earning him a confused reaction from Scott. “No. Nothing came up, you just can’t bear working with me.”

Scott scoffed, looking away from Mitch. “That is not true.”

“You can’t even fucking look at me!” Mitch yelled, lowering his voice. “Look, I don’t care if you don’t like me, but you can’t just-“

“That’s the issue!” Scott yelled in response, then breathing in to try and keep himself calm. “We should go inside.” Scott said, pointing to the door of Mitch’s room. He expected him to object, but he only nodded, pushing the door open and allowing Scott to go inside and slamming it before them.

“What’s the issue?” Mitch demanded, taking a step closer to Scott.

Scott gritted his teeth, staring down at the brunette and trying everything in his power to not allow his emotions to guide him. “I do like you. That’s the problem.”

“Huh.” Mitch said, attempting not to grin to himself. Despite who it was, it was an accomplishment when someone says they like you, right? Almost like a badge saying ‘congrats! You’re not completely unappealing!’ and that was nice. So, he smiled to himself despite the situation, which may have been the wrong thing to do.

“Why are you _smiling?_ This isn’t good!”

“Okay, okay.” Mitch said, trying to stop himself from chuckling at how worked-up Scott appeared to be over the situation. It was kind of cute, but he knew that Scott might just kill him if he said that out loud. “Why is it such a big deal to you? That you, y’know, _like_ me?” He added emphasis on the word ‘like’, causing Scott to glare at him even further. Heck, by the time they were finished Scott may have realised that Mitch wasn’t worth his interest or attention. He’d get over him just like that.

“Because I have a boyfriend, who I _love,_ but then there’s you…” He paused, pacing himself for the next sentence he was about to say. “I’m just so intrigued by you. Your voice, your acting skills, your personality…” He drifted off, continuing to avoid looking at Mitch.

“Scott, you just said it; you _love Alex.”_ He gulped. “Listen, I’m not going to lie. I find you attractive and I may have thought about kissing you-“Scott attempted to break him off, but Mitch shook his head and spook over him. “But it’s not like it means anything. It’s just a harmless crush. That’s all.”

Scott sighed, appearing relieved. “You think so?”

“Yes. You barely know me, Scott.” He paused. “And I don’t think you’d cheat on Alex; with me or with anyone else.”

“You’re right.” Scott said, nodding. “I wouldn’t.”

“Exactly.” Mitch said, giving Scott a soft smile before the two of them fell into silence for a few moments.

“I should probably get-“

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, and Scott?”

“Yes?”

“Does this mean you’ll stop being a dick to me during classes?”

Scott chuckled. “Only if you will too.”

Mitch laughed, and there was a moment before Scott left that they just stared at each other, both considering what could have been between the two of them. However, within a second, the door closed and Mitch was left in his room alone to consider what had just happened. So, Kirstie was right. Scott liked him. Although, Kirstie was pretty much always right. It was one of the main reasons Mitch kept her around.

He couldn’t help but consider what might’ve happened if Scott didn’t have Alex, though. Would they have kissed? Would it have been slow and romantic like in a movie or would it have been quick and desperate? He sighed. He guessed he’d never know, unless, by some miracle, Scott ditched Alex for him. But he didn’t want that; not really. You can’t just trade one broken heart for another.

Besides, this was just a crush. He’d get over it in a week or so and then everything would just return back to normal. He’d stop feeling that his heart was beating a mile a minute whenever he was with Scott and Scott would realise he’d never want to be with anyone like Mitch. It just wasn’t destined to work out.

So Mitch collapsed onto his bed, trying to drain out every thought of Scott in his head as if it were a sieve. He could do this. He could _do this._

Of course, his thoughts didn’t bet on Scott barging back into the room with no explanation, walking over to Mitch and saying nothing else but ‘I need to do this’ and grabbing Mitch’s face and kissing him before running out of the room like nothing had happened; like he hadn’t just destroyed every hope Mitch had of ever getting over him. Like it wasn’t the most selfish, manipulative thing he could have done.

It was slow and romantic, though. And that made Mitch want to hate Scott even more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I apologise that this took me soo long to upload honestly I started it like a month ago and only recently got back to it. But exams are over now so yay! And, honestly, writing this gets me in to writing again and gives me motivation to do it so I love it. Also, ignore the inaccuracies with the musical songs- 'Candy Store; has 4 people, 'Dancing Through Life' is mainly one but, y'know, shh... Oh and also I discovered I'm terrible at writing gay sex scenes so I just avoided that. Oops. Also, this fic is going to have so many cliches so I apologise for that ok I never usually include them in my writing so let me have this


	5. Temporary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No, no. You’re just scared, that’s all. You made a mistake, you fucked up and you regret it and now you’re scared. That’s it. You love Alex, you only kissed Mitch, that was all. You love Alex.

After the kiss, Mitch had been given a new kind of hope. A hope that he tried to push away, to convince himself that it had meant nothing and was never going to happen again, but it proved impossible. He was a lost cause. He was hopelessly and totally infatuated with Scott and, whilst he didn’t even really know the blond, he couldn’t help but feel like there was something pulling him towards him, like a magnetic force that drew him in despite his attempts to pull away.

Scott hadn’t spoken to Alex since the kiss and the guilt was eating him alive. Every time Alex asked ‘are you okay?’ or said something along the lines of ‘it’s fine if you don’t want to talk’, Scott wanted to scream. He didn’t deserve his sympathy or care. Eventually, Alex appeared to get the message loud and clear, leaving Scott alone to face his thoughts. He had class today. Which meant he’d have to see Mitch, whether he liked it or not. He rolled over on the bed, shoving his face into the pillow and attempted to drown out the thoughts in his head.

\--

Mitch had been ready to go to the audition, preparing himself and going over to the words because it was honestly his worst nightmare to forget them when he had knocked on the door. At first, Mitch expected it to be Angel, picking up something they had forgotten. They hadn’t really been in the room much lately and Mitch couldn’t help but notice.  He didn’t want to admit it, due to being known as a person who enjoyed his own company, but he did miss their conversations. He also couldn’t help but miss watching her pick out clothes daily, even though he had an immense amount of jealousy over her wardrobe; it was an experience to watch. It was like every day she was putting on a show and _she_ was always the star.

When the person knocking didn’t instantly open the door, he knew it couldn’t be Angel. She didn’t care what Mitch was doing, she’d come in regardless. So he cautiously opened the door, peeking out and noticing a tall blond standing in front of him.

“Hey.” Scott said sheepishly, trying to avoid looking at Mitch. “I just wanted to-“

“What? Kiss me and then leave again?” Mitch said, resting against the doorframe. The door was still only slightly ajar, stopping Scott from entering. That was good; it meant Mitch was in control. He had the power here.

“No. Listen; I’m sorry about that. It shouldn’t have happened.”

“Then why did it?” Mitch asked, staring at Scott with wide eyes. He didn’t want to want this so bad, but he did. And he knew Scott must have felt something too.

“Because I couldn’t help myself, okay?” He paused. “I just couldn’t.”

“That’s literally the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard.” Mitch scoffed, his eyes continuing to pierce through Scott. He wanted answers. No excuses, no bullshit, just _answers._ He deserved that, didn’t he?

“I know.” Scott ran a hand through his hair. “I know, but- it’s the truth.”

“Is that all you came here to say?”

“No. I came here to say I’m sorry, that it can’t happen again, that it was a-“

“Mistake? Yeah, I know how this goes. You can leave now.” Mitch walked away from the door, not turning around to look at Scott. This was painful, sure, but it was better to leave it now than later. He’d get over it. Maybe not right now, but he would.

“It wasn’t a mistake.” Scott said, inviting himself into the room and walking closer to Mitch. “I _wanted_ to kiss you. I came back into the room. I made the first move.” He paused, playing with his shirt sleeves and pulling them over his hands. Mitch couldn’t help but watch as he did. It was one of his weaknesses when it came to boys. “I don’t see _that_ as a mistake. I just know it can’t happen again.”

“Because you have a boyfriend.”

“Because I have a boyfriend.” Scott nodded. “But if I didn’t-“

“Don’t.” Mitch broke him off, shaking his head. “It’s a hypothetical situation, so let’s not talk about it.”

“Yeah. Right.” Scott nodded, taking a few steps back. “Well, I guess I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah. See you.”

Mitch walked as Scott walked out of the room, letting out the breath that he had been holding. He knew this would happen; that he shouldn’t get his hopes up. But part of him still wanted to. Part of him still wanted to believe that there something could happen between them and he hated that.

But, as he kept telling himself, this was just a crush. It wasn’t like he was in love with the guy or anything. So he’d just have to push it away, act like it wasn’t there and _move the fuck on._ It couldn’t be that hard, could it?

\--

It proved to be much harder than Mitch had expected. Every time he saw Scott in the hallway, he walked the opposite direction and prayed he hadn’t seen him. He, Scott and Kirstie had continued to rehearse their piece for the audition, but now the rehearsals were silent and only filled with awkward glances between the pair between Kirstie attempting to get the conversation going. Mitch had started going to the GSA meetings again, but he quickly realised he couldn’t watch Alex and Scott together anymore. He stole a few glances over, noticing how happy they looked to be with one another. Mitch wondered if Scott had said anything about the kiss to Alex. He glanced again. This time, he noticed something different. There was guilt in Scott’s eyes as he looked at Alex, despite how happy they appeared to be in each other’s company. He hadn’t told him, clearly. Mitch wondered if he ever would.

Probably not. It was a tiny, insignificant kiss between, well, strangers really. They didn’t _know_ each other. Not like Alex and Scott did. And they never would. A kiss was nothing, really. Most people who were in relationships had probably kissed other people.

_Not like he kissed you, though,_ Mitch thought, and he instantly pushed the thought out of his mind. That didn’t matter anymore. The kiss didn’t matter anymore. None of it mattered.

\--

When Mitch walked back to his room, he was surprised to see Angel sat on the bed waiting for him.

“Hey!” He smiled, running over and giving her a hug. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.”

“I know, I know.” She laughed. “I’ve been so busy.”

“With what?” Mitch asked, thankful for a distraction from the whole Scott ordeal. Angel just laughed secretively, causing Mitch to playfully shove them. “Tell me!”

“Okay, okay.” Angel said, stopping herself from giggling. “So, you’ve probably noticed I haven’t been here much-“

“Yep.” Mitch nodded. “Go on.”

“I’ve been hanging out with Kirstie a lot. Like, a lot.” She chuckled again. “You probably figured that out.” Mitch just nodded, willing her to go on. “But, I’ve been doing other stuff too. We’ve just been doing a lot of it together.”

Mitch frowned, confused. He’d just assumed that they were dating, honestly. He hadn’t really considered it being anything else.

“Kirstie and I have been working on a fashion line!” She smiled. “It’s really new at the moment, we don’t have much stuff, but… it’s getting there.”

“Is that all?” Mitch asked, probing for more information. There _had_ to be more to the story.

“Oh. Well, actually, I’ve also been working somewhere to afford the material and stuff…”

“Where?”

Angel shuffled slightly. “The club that’s about ten minutes from here.”

Mitch raised his eyebrow. “Isn’t that place supposed to be a dump?”

“Yeah, it is.” Angel laughed nervously. “But the money’s pretty good, so…”

“So principles go out of the window?” Mitch laughed.

“Exactly!” Angel replied, chuckling and placing her hand on Mitch’s knee. “So how are you? What have I missed?”

“Not much, trust me.” He played with his hands, contemplating whether or not to tell Angel about the kiss. It might help to tell someone about it so they can understand where he was coming from; that this wasn’t just in his head or a fantasy he had made up. However, he continued to remain silent, keeping the information to himself. He wasn’t sure if that was for Scott’s sake or for his own.

Angel nudged him. “Come _on,_ you must have something for me.” He shook his head, remaining silent. “Ugh. You’re no fun.” Angel sighed, getting up and running a brush through her hair as Mitch watched her. She was beautiful, truly. Not in a way that Mitch was attracted to her, but in a way that anyone who didn’t see it was clearly blind. She was ethereal, really. A level that Mitch could only dream of reaching.

“You’re staring.” Angel commented, continuing to stare into the mirror. “Why?”

“No reason.” Mitch shrugged. “I just admire you.”

Angel smiled to herself. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

They both went silent for a minute or so after that and Mitch continued to watch Angel, with little care of whether she noticed or not. Watching her apply her makeup was something he was entranced by and he’d never really noticed the level of detail that went into makeup. It could really completely transform a person. He couldn’t help but wonder if it could do the same for him.

“Are we still on for this weekend?” Angel asked, applying her mascara.

“Huh? Oh, yeah.” Mitch said, nodding. “Totally.”

“Great!” Angel smiled, turning around to face Mitch. “Do you think I look okay? Is it too much?”

“No, you- you look amazing.” Mitch smiled, staring at his best friend as she smiled and placed a kiss on his cheek before grabbing her bag. He wished he could figure out why he was so obsessed with her. Why he felt as if he could stare at her putting on makeup and picking out outfits for hours, despite not being attracted to her. Maybe it really was just an admiration. He’d never really admired anyone this much before.

“Okay, great. I’ll see you later!” She smiled, walking out.

“Wait- where are you going?” Mitch called out.

“On a date with Kirstie!” She yelled back as she walked down the hallway, and Mitch smiled to himself. He was glad two of his closest friends were happy, even if he may not be. They deserved it, truly.

And for a few moments, he was too happy for his friends to even think about anything else.

\--

Scott paced back and forth in his room, trying to figure out how to tell Alex what had happened. He’d been in this very same position every night since the kiss had happened. He’d gone over hundreds of ways, but every time he opened his mouth to tell him it suddenly went dry and he found himself unable to speak. It was like the universe didn’t _want_ him to tell Alex.

No, no, that’s bullshit. You can’t hide behind that, Scott. He deserves the truth.

But it was just a kiss. I don’t _love_ him.

These conversations continued, with Scott battling himself with internal back-and-forth conversations. They never agreed.

Keeping this from Alex would be entirely hypocritical- they’d always promised to be honest with one another and Scott always said he valued honesty above all else. It was a battle that he just couldn’t win; if he told Alex, he’d risk losing him, but if he doesn’t tell him… what happens if he finds out?

_He may not find out, though,_ the voice inside his head fired back, causing Scott to fall onto his bed and scream into his pillow. He hated this. He’d never wanted to do anything to hurt Alex. He’d never cheated on him; he’d rarely even looked at other people because he was so utterly convinced that Alex was the one for him. Suddenly, that had all changed and he was no longer sure of what he wanted anymore. It was all just going _so_ fast.

No, no. You’re just scared, that’s all. You made a mistake, you fucked up and you regret it and now you’re _scared._ That’s it. You love Alex, you only kissed Mitch, that was all. _You love Alex._

Scott pushed the pillow against his ears, attempting to drain out the voices. He didn’t think he could deal with this anymore. He had to tell Alex. There was no other option.

\--

“He _kissed_ you?” Kirstie asked, shoving popcorn into her mouth. “Wow.”

“I know!” Mitch laughed, taking the popcorn from Kirstie and eating some of it. “And it was like, y’know, a _kiss.”_ Mitch said, exaggerating the last word for effect.

“So do you think he wanted more?” Kirstie asked, her eyes wide.

“I think so.” Mitch shrugged. “I mean, who wouldn’t?” He laughed, posing as Kirstie watched.

“You are too much.” She laughed, taking the popcorn back.

“That’s why you love me.” Mitch smirked as he rested his head on Kirstie’s for a few moments. “I’ve missed this.”

Kirstie frowned as she played with Mitch’s hair. “What?”

“Just hanging out with you.” Mitch shrugged, pulling his head off of Kirstie’s shoulder. “I just feel like I haven’t seen you much recently.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that.” Kirstie sighed apologetically. “Angel and I have just been-“

“Busy. She told me.” Mitch said, dismissing Kirstie’s comment. “I don’t blame you for it. I just miss having my best friend around.”

“I know, I know.” Kirstie said, placing an arm around her friend. “I promise I’ll be here more often.”

“Thank you.” Mitch smiled, snuggling into his friend. He really had missed this and, with everything that had been going on lately, it was always nice to have an old friend around. One that understood him like nobody else did. “So, how did you date with Angel go? How did you two even end up going on a date?” Mitch winked, changing the subject as he grabbed another drink.

Kirstie blushed. “Well, you know…”

“Come on! I need details. My dating life is severely lacking, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

Kirstie laughed. “It’s not like you haven’t been doing _anything._ ” Mitch just continued to stare at her, willing her to go on. “Okay, okay.” She paused, taking a breath. “So, things have been leading up to _something_ for me and Angel for what feels like forever.” She shrugged. “I didn’t even realise it was happening at first. I just thought I’d found a new girlfriend with an impeccable taste in fashion.” She chuckled. “Then, I realised I liked her as more than a friend. It was… quite the shock, honestly.” She shrugged, staring at her fingernails. “I never really thought I could like girls, or anyone as feminine as Angel. But I did. And I do.” She stopped, staring at Mitch and waiting for his reaction.

“Sooo… the date? How did that end up finally happening?”

“Oh! Well, we’d kissed a few times by this point. Angel never asked what we were and neither did I. I thought we were settled on just being friends who made out sometimes.” She chuckled. “God, I’m coming off awfully, aren’t I?”

“No! Like, half of my relationships started off that way.” He said, shrugging. “If you’re awful, so am I.”

Kirstie grinned. “Okay, true.” She turned around, facing her friend. “So, it was kind of an out of the blue thing. We were sitting near the waterfall-“

“Oh! Romantic.” Mitch said, admiring Angel’s choices.

“Yeah! So, we hadn’t kissed in public yet, but she leant in and kissed me for a moment.” She gulped. “And everything felt… right?” She shrugged, picking up her drink. “And then she asked me out.”

“Where did she take you? What happened on the date? How many times did you kiss?” Mitch asked, acting like an overexcited puppy. It was endearing, really. Truthfully, he was just thankful to be having a discussion with his best friend about perfectly normal things. It was restoring the sanity that he felt he had been losing lately and he was almost starting to feel _normal_ again. Like he could just be Mitch and that he didn’t need to be anyone else or, as a matter-of-fact, _be_ with anybody else.

“Woah, slow down with the questions!” Kirstie laughed, playfully hitting her best friend. “We went to the really restaurant near here, then we walked around the park for a little bit.” She shrugged, sipping her drink. “It was probably one of the nicest dates I’ve had in ages because she didn’t _try_ so hard.” She stopped, staring into the distance for a few moments. It really _was_ a beautiful date. With someone she was almost certain she was falling in love with.

“Did you make out?” Mitch asked, pushing Kirstie for more details.

“I don’t kiss and tell.” Kirstie winked, finishing off her drink. “But, anyways, what about you and Scott? What do you think is going to happen?”

“There isn’t any ‘me and Scott’,” Mitch said, shrugging. “It was just a kiss.”

“It started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this?” Kirstie sang, laughing.

“It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss…” Mitch sang the rest of the lyric, leading both of the friends to burst into a fit of laughter, bringing the conversation to an end. Mitch was thankful for that. He didn’t want to think about Scott right now, or their kiss, or anything. It was nothing. That was all he needed to remember.

\--

“Alex, _please.”_

“No, Scott. You need to give me a minute.” Alex said, pushing the pining Scott off of him. It had been approximately two minutes since Scott had told Alex about his kiss with Mitch, and things had gone as well as he’d hoped. He wasn’t sure why he’d expected anything different, really.

He’d tried to get Alex to talk to him, but every time he did, he pushed him away. He hadn’t expressed any thorough raw anger yet though, but Scott knew that made this a million times worse. He was hurt and shocked that the one person in the world who he never thought would hurt him, had. He couldn’t even try to be angry at Scott, so he just went silent, refusing to acknowledge the fact that he was even there.  It just made things somewhat easier.

“Okay, I’m gonna give you some time. But _please_ let me know when you’re ready to talk.” Scott said, looking into the eyes of his boyfriend and receiving nothing back in return. It killed him, but he couldn’t say he didn’t deserve this. He couldn’t even answer Alex’s first question; ‘ _why?”._ He didn’t _know_ why. He just knew it felt right in the moment, despite how wrong it turned out to be.

He received a soft, barely audible ‘okay’ from Alex and then decided to leave the room straight after to leave Alex to collect his thoughts. He was hurt. Not angry, but _hurt._ He’d been betrayed and Scott had broken his trust and, for now, there was nothing he could do to fix it but wait. Wait and hope and _pray_ that Alex forgave him for his mistake.

On the way back to his room, he spotted Mitch sitting on the floor outside his room. He raised his eyebrow, and, despite the voices inside his head, walked towards the brunette.

“Hey.” He said, pointing to the empty space besides him. “This seat taken?” Mitch shook his head and Scott sat down, slumped against the wall. “So…”

“You told Alex?” Mitch asked, although it wasn’t really a question, more of an assumption. It was quite clear that he’d told him; otherwise, why would he be sat outside Mitch’s room with him?

Scott sighed deeply. “Yeah.”

“How did it go?” Mitch asked, but once again, the answer was obvious. Although, he assumed this thing could never really go well; Alex was truly the victim here and he had been hurt by someone he trusted. He was the one who hadn’t done anything and had got caught up in the mess and Mitch hated to imagine how he must be feeling right now.

“As well as it could have gone.” Scott shrugged. “I’m trying not to think about it.”

“If he loves you, he’ll at least _try_ to forgive you.” Mitch said, attempting to comfort Scott to the best of his abilities. “He just needs time.”

“I know. But I can’t help but feel like every second that passes he’s slipping away from me more and more.” He sighed. “You know, I truly am sorry for what happened. I shouldn’t have kissed you.”

Mitch shook his head. “It’s in the past, okay?” He paused, trying to think of something to say to fill the silence that he had created. “The more you talk about it, the more _real_ it makes it. Alex needs to know that it didn’t mean anything.”

“But-“

“Nope, no buts. You tell him it meant _nothing._ That it was a stupid mistake that you’ll never make again. Can you do that for me?” Mitch stared at Scott, and he nodded. “Good.” Silence came between the two of them again for a few moments and, although Mitch liked silence, he couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable. It was the kind of silence that was uncomfortable because there was so much left unsaid, but both of the participants were too afraid to speak.

The silence continued until Scott looked down and noticed the bottle in Mitch’s hand. “You got any more of that?” He asked, desperate for any form of distraction.

Mitch looked confused, but followed Scott’s eye line and remembered the bottle in his hand. Of course. Guy fucks up, gets his heart broken, needs a distraction, and gets drunk. It was all really such a cliché. He nodded anyways, pointing to inside the room. “There’s more in there. Come in.”

They walked in together, closing the door behind them as Mitch poured Scott a drink and handed it to him. He gulped it down within a matter of seconds. “That kind of night?” Mitch asked, chuckling slightly.

“Yep.” Scott nodded, looking through Mitch’s fridge and taking out another drink. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“Hey, go for it.” Mitch said, sitting down on his bed and finishing the bottle in his hand. He couldn’t help but watch Scott as he drank and looked around his room. It was almost as if he were a wild creature that was on the wrong territory, a place where he knew he shouldn’t be but wanted to be anyways and refused to leave.

“You’re staring.” Scott commented, his lips meeting the bottle. He’d clearly given up on glasses.

“Sorry.” Mitch said, embarrassed. He didn’t want to still be totally enamoured with Scott, but he was. There was something so utterly intriguing about him that he couldn’t ignore and, despite his constant attempts at making Scott disappear completely from his mind, he still found himself staring at the blond as if he were a teen heartthrob. He hated it, and, truly, he’d do anything to stop it if he could. He was just so _attractive,_ y’know? And he wasn’t just attractive in the way that he _looked,_ no. He was attractive in literally every other way, too. His voice, his style, his _laugh,_ oh, fuck. Mitch was really falling for him, wasn’t he?

“So…”

“So…” Mitch laughed awkwardly, grabbing another drink. “You still don’t want to talk about Alex?”

Scott fidgeted slightly. “I don’t know.” He gulped down another mouthful of drink. “It’s just; it feels odd talking to this with the guy who I cheated on him _with.”_

“Ah.” Mitch nodded, suddenly understanding. “I get that.”

“Yeah.” Scott said, and silence quickly fell upon them again with both of them having so much to say, but being unsure of whether or not it should be said. So, Mitch decided to take matters into his own hands without making it _too_ obvious by grabbing a load of drinks from the fridge and handing some of them to Scott.

“You sure?” Scott asked, frowning.

Mitch nodded. “Get drunk, and then think about how you feel in the morning. It always helps.”

“No, but…” He looked around anxiously. “Where’s your roommate? Aren’t some of these his?”

“ _Hers.”_ Mitch said, correcting him. “And no, she doesn’t really stay here that often.” He shrugged, bringing the bottle up to his lips. “Their loss.”

Scott chuckled. “True.”

The next few minutes passed fairly quickly as the two finished their drink, then another, then another and then… well, you get the picture. Bottles littered the floor, but Mitch couldn’t bring himself to care. He’d clean them up in the morning, anyways.

“Shots?” Scott offered, pouring them regardless of whether or not he had Mitch’s consent.

“Of course.” Mitch said, taking the shot and looking at Scott. “One, two…Hey! You’re supposed to wait for me!”

“Oops.” Scott chuckled, pouring another shot as Mitch downed his. “Let’s try that again.”

“Okay.” He raised the glass to his lips. “One, two…” Scott gulped down the shot again. “Oh my god.”

“I’m sorry!” Scott laughed. “I just can’t help it.”

“You’re so annoying.” Mitch groaned, grabbing the bottle and pouring ten shots into the glasses, five for each of them. “Whoever finishes these first, wins.” He said, pushing Scott’s drinks closer to him.

“Wins what?”

Mitch shrugged, looking into the distance. “Anything.”

“Anything?” Scott asked, raising his eyebrow. “Okay, I’m in.”

“Let’s do this!” Mitch said, picking up one of the shots and downing it.

“Hey, hey wait!” Scott laughed, picking up a shot and downing that also.

“There’s no waiting here, Scotty.” Mitch winked, downing another shot. The others were quickly finished and, within a few moments, the two of them were lying on the floor next to one another staring at the ceiling.

“Who even finished first?” Mitch asked, staring into the distance.

“I have no idea.” Scott laughed, and the both of them burst into a fit of laughter for a minute until things went silent again. This was a different kind of silent, though; it was the kind that Mitch liked. It was the kind of silence where nothing needed to be said because they _understood_ each other.

“Mitch?”

“Hm?”

“Does it sound bad if I said I wish I could have both of you?”

Mitch sat up, frowning. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I just…” Scott sighed, sitting up also.  “I love Alex, right? But I like you, too. I like everything about you, even your bitchy side…” He laughed. “I’ve never experienced this before.”

“How long have you been with Alex?” Mitch asked.

“About 6 months.” Scott responded. “Why?”

“Because it makes my point all the more relevant.” Mitch said, turning around to face Scott. “You say you’ve never had a crush on anyone whilst you’ve been with Alex, correct?” Mitch asked, and Scott nodded. “It’s because you were too in love with Alex to even _notice_ anyone else. However, that expires around the six month mark and, well- here you are.”

Scott frowned, clearly confused by Mitch’s statement. “So this is just inevitable?”

“It’s inevitable that you’ll like other people and find them attractive, yes!” Mitch laughed. “Do you honestly think everyone who’s in a long-term relationship hasn’t ever even found someone else slightly attractive?”

Scott shrugged. “I’d never really thought about it.”

“Well, they have.” Mitch said, pouring himself another drink. “It’s completely innocent as long as you don’t _act_ on it.”

Scott scoffed. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I did act on it.”

“Yeah, but it’s not like we had sex or anything.” He raised the drink to his lips. “Just give Alex some time, maybe don’t mention that you were here, don’t do it again, and, boom! You’ll be forgiven.”

“Are you sure?” Scott asked, a sense of pining in his voice.

“Absolutely.” Mitch nodded. “He just needs time.”

“Okay.” Scott nodded, sighing. “But what do I do with this… _thing_ between us?”

Mitch laughed slightly. “There’s nothing between us, Scott. I’m sure you’ll get over your little crush soon.”

“What about you?” Scott asked, staring at Mitch with wide eyes. He wanted to believe everything could be this easy, but it all sounded completely unrealistic. He couldn’t even think of the baggage that he’d bought to his and Alex relationship; how they’d spent so long building each other’s trust just to have Scott tear it all down. How Mitch, the innocent counterparty in all of this, must be feeling after being kissed and then ditched. Yeah; there was a lot of baggage here. And it was all Scott’s fault.

Mitch shrugged, removing his gaze slightly from Scott’s. “I’ll get over it.”

Scott couldn’t help but feel slightly hurt; he’d hoped for more of a reaction from the brunette. He’d wanted to know it meant _something_ for him to have screwed up his relationship for. “Is that it?”

“It has to be, Scott.” Mitch said, staring into the distance and then turning back around to face the blond. “It’s not like anything is going to happen, so I have to tell myself that. That I’ll get over it.”

“Will you?”

Mitch laughed. “It’s not like I was in love with you or anything.” He ran a hand through his hair. “It was just a stupid crush that I’ll get over in a week or two.” He smiled. “Don’t worry about me.” Scott nodded, but it wasn’t really Mitch he had been thinking about. He’d risked his entire relationship for what was, to Mitch, a stupid crush? That was all?

He’d felt like it was so much more to the both of them. That there was a _reason_ they had kissed, that there was something that drew them together, despite how wrong it was. This was so much more than a crush for both of them. It had to be. If not, how could Scott be sure that the same thing wouldn’t happen again? That he wouldn’t find himself kissing another guy and betraying Alex’s trust? It just couldn’t be as simple as that. It was _never_ as simple as just a crush.

“What do you think what happen if we kissed again?” Scott asked, his curiosity getting the better of him despite his thoughts telling him otherwise.

“I don’t know.” Mitch shrugged, and it was an honest answer. He was fairly surprised that Scott had just randomly asked him, truly. It wasn’t something he would have thought he would _want_ t to talk about. “I think it would make things even more complicated and be _another_ mistake.” Mitch responded, and Scott sighed. “Not the answer you were looking for?” Mitch asked, leaning in closer to Scott.

Scott shrugged, letting Mitch snuggle in closer to him. “No, it’s fine- just… wishing for the impossible, I guess.”

“What’s the impossible?” Mitch asked, gazing up at Scott. It would have been the perfect moment for Scott to kiss him, but he knew that he couldn’t. Mitch was temporary, and Alex was his forever and he couldn’t risk that for one moment with Mitch. Still, it didn’t change anything. It didn’t change the fact that every time he looked at Mitch, he felt the same emotions he’d had when he had first seen Alex. It was a mix of uncertainty and fascination, feelings that were unable to be explained, but were so real it was almost painful. He loved Alex, he knew that much. But he couldn’t help but forget about that for a few seconds whenever he looked at Mitch.

“The impossible is being with Alex, but still having you around.” He paused. “Like… not as a boyfriend, but as a-“

“Friends with benefits?” Mitch interjected.

“Well, kind of.” Scott laughed. “I just think I like kissing you.” He leaned in and, for a moment, both of them almost let themselves go, but Mitch pulled away after only a matter of seconds, shaking his head. "We’re not doing this again.”

“You’re right.” Scott nodded. “God, what is wrong with me?”

“You’re confused.” Mitch said, placing an arm around Scott’s shoulders. “I think you may need a few days to figure out what you want.”

Scott looked up. “I want Alex.”

“Okay. Then maybe you shouldn’t be here.” Mitch said, pulling himself away from Scott. It hurt, sure, but it was for the best. If Alex knew he was here… well, let’s just say it wouldn’t really help Scott’s situation. It was better to get out now than before anything else got worse.

“Okay.” Scott nodded, proceeding to get up. “Thanks for the drinks.”

“You’re welcome.” Mitch nodded, faking a smile as he watched Scott leave and quickly experienced a contradiction of emotion. He could have easily had everything he wanted a few moments ago. He could have kissed Scott, blamed it on alcohol, and he wouldn’t have to bear the responsibility. It was just all too damn _easy._

But that was what made Mitch wary. He didn’t want to invade in a long-term relationship, but if Scott was having doubts… well, that wasn’t his fault, was it? Of course, he’d inevitably be blamed for Scott’s feelings towards him. That he must have done something to _make_ him feel that way.

He scoffed. As if humans were that simple. Emotions were something that couldn’t be controlled, not matter how far deep you pushed them or how much you tried to just _not_ think about them. They were always there, ready to make an appearance at the worst of times. It always happened. And, despite what Mitch had told Scott, he knew these feelings weren’t going to just disappear. Maybe Scott’s wouldn’t either.

Maybe he had just got himself trapped in the classic love triangle, doomed to fail. He’d always hated that trope.

\--

“Alex? Can we talk?”

After about ten minutes of wandering around the halls, Scott found himself hammering on Alex’s door at around 2 o’clock in the morning. Now, to anyone with logic, this was a stupid idea, but Scott’s drunken mind didn’t seem to care about that. He just needed to talk to him. Too see that he hadn’t completely fucked everything up.

He heard a groan in response. “Scott?”

“Alex? It’s me. Can we talk?” He repeated.

He heard shuffling from inside the room, and within a few moments the door was open and a sheepish, clearly-just-been-woken-up Alex peeked his head out of the door. “It’s 2am.”

“I know, but I needed to see you.”

“Couldn’t you have waited?” Alex groaned, taking a deep breath and then noticing a bottle in Scott’s hand. “Are you drunk?”

“Wait?” Scott asked, then looked down and noticed the bottle. “No! I just- I had a few drinks, but I’m fine…” He drifted off, unsure of what else he was going to say.

“Hm, exactly.” Alex sighed. “Come on, let’s get you back to your room.”

“I don’t need an escort.” Scott whined, but walked behind Alex anyways as they walked for a few moments, in silence, to Scott’s room. It had been so long since he had slept there. He usually slept with Alex, snuggled in beside him, a place where everything was safe. He assumed that he’d lost that now.

“Are you going to forgive me?” Scott asked, staring at his former, or current- he wasn’t really sure- boyfriend.

Alex sighed, taking Scott’s hand. “I don’t know yet.” He paused, running his thumb over Scott’s hand and getting lost in the touch for a few moments. He had missed it. He had missed Scott and everything about him and it had only been a few hours, so god knows how he was going to cope over the next few days. Being at the same college, they’d gotten so used to seeing each other virtually every day that the idea of not… well, it scared Alex. He wasn’t sure he knew how to _deal_ without Scott. Maybe they needed a break. Maybe this had happened for a reason.

_No, it happened because your boyfriend kissed someone else, idiot!_

Alex sighed, ignoring the voice inside his head and trying to return back to reality as he looked into the sad eyes of his boyfriend. He didn’t want to hurt him, truly, but maybe it was for the best.

He opened the door of the room, letting Scott in before placing a soft kiss to his forehead and, with a subtle ‘goodnight’, he was gone and Scott was left alone.

Well, alone in the metaphorical sense. His roommate was asleep on the opposite end of the room, but that didn’t really make much difference. He was still alone and, whilst he couldn’t be sure in his drunken, dizzy state, he couldn’t help but feel like he had just been broken up with.

He couldn’t help but be glad that the alcohol was clouding his thoughts as he fell asleep, stopping him from sobbing into his pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here's a few disclaimers: I didn't really proofread this because I'm at the point where I just want to get it uploaded tbh, so please tell me if you spot any mistakes!  
> Secondly, I know how it seems like this is going, but I swear- I'm not just using Alex and Scott as a couple to break up so that Scott and Mitch will end up together. Obviously, they will but- just wait ok I'm tryna not be too stereotypical here  
> Anyways, enjoy, I'm hoping each chapter gets kinda better?? Let me know!  
> Oh, also, pretty much none of the people in my fics are ever straight n I love the concept of bi! Kirstie sry


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